Does a gambing lobby exist ?

Many people are distressed about the persistent endorsement of sports betting. They are worried that this campaign will bring about a new gang of people that will be impaired by gambling. Ever since their establishment, sports betting and other types of gambling such as the use of poker machines in pubs and clubs have been very rampant.

The blooming of gambling industry really does raise a very crucial question. Does gambling lobbying really exist? Do these gambling companies pay huge sums of money to lobbyists so that they negotiate regulatory policies with members of the legislatures? This article explores whether it exists and if not what is the secret behind the massive success of this industry.

Transfer of money between legislatures and gambling companies

There are a lot of accounts that suggests that lobbying in gambling industry do exist. One of the most popular stories is about the former minister Peter Garret. In the year 2004, there were claims that Garret had received a bunch of cash in an envelope from an envoy of lobby groups clubs NSW at an event organized the gambling industry. Garret remarkably retracted the claims stating that it was a cheque which he had received from his electorate office, and he went forward to claim that he gave back the cheque. Many people believe that the reason for his retraction had something to do with the book he was launching.

Gambling industry supporting political parties and campaigns

Another notable account that is worth attention is the considerable amount of money that pubs and clubs interests contributed to a fundraising federation associated with Liberal MP Kevin Andrews. It is important to remember that when Mr. Andrew was in position, he facilitated the development of Liberal party guidelines on gambling. During his tenure as the minister for social services, he destroyed the reforms the former minister Gillard had put on the operation of the poker machines. The purpose is clearly not online players protection, who are rather encouraged to play thanks to this kind of promo code and many other forms of targeted advertising.

Despite these strange donations, clubs NSW spokesman claimed that the donations were for ’’ no meticulous reason.’’ There is no clear idea if the donations manipulated Andrews’s decisions in abandoning gambling reforms but they were abandoned anyway. It is also clear that the Liberal party signed a memorandum of understanding with the NSW clubs. The clubs have been known to be supporting the Liberals, and the NSW have also been eager to aid them out. They have since increased the maximum value for deposits on gambling load up cards.

Lobbying war between casinos and online gambling companies

The rise of internet gambling has initiated wars between casinos and internet gambling. Casino king Sheldon Adelson wants to bring to an end internet gambling. Mr.Adelson stated that he would do anything in his power to ban the internet casinos. How is this possible? Well, here is where lobbying comes in in the gambling industry. It is without a doubt that he intended to use lobbying to eradicate internet gambling. The reason is mostly because it brings unnecessary competition to his casino business. Senator Lindsey Graham and representative Jason Chaffetz initiated a bill which Adelson’s lobbyist had hugely contributed in writing. The bill was meant to help Adelson achieve his goal of eliminating online gambling.

Adelson is fighting a losing war since other industry bigwigs like MGM resorts, and Caesar’s entertainment have taken the contradictory task. This is because they want to venture into the growing market. These companies have since joined hand and raised huge sums of money estimated at about 8.2 million U.S Dollars to lobby the Federal government on internet gambling. It goes without saying that gambling industry is the biggest ’’ philanthropists’’ to the state and political parties campaign. These huge donations really do not go to waste as there are some legislative favors that these gambling companies expect from the political parties once they form the government.

Whether lobbying exists in gambling industry is not be a tough question to answer. There are numerous accounts which show the exchange of money between the casinos and bookmakers and the members of the legislature and political parties at large. The lobbying is usually done behind closed doors and in a very secretive manner that people are left confused if it actually takes place in the gambling area. As history has it, for many years online betting and gambling was not allowed by either federal or state laws. However, the case is very different now…